snowboarding....check!

alrighty...it has been quite a time since I last blogged. why? oh well just been crazy busy ya know. School started which meant student teaching which means I am crazy tired alllllll the timmeeee! I do love it though....most days.

Along with that I have had a calling to keep up with (I need to be better about that), trying to be social by going to game nights and stuff (always stay way to late) and then trying to see my family still at times and looking for a car (which is usually on hold). So quick recap then the main reason of this post:

-Student teaching: I have an amazing teacher! I am so excited to FINALLY have a good, solid teacher. I love it and the 5th graders are a lot of fun...stressful but fun. I enjoy it even if it means I have to get up so freaking early every day.

-Church is wonderful and the gospel is so true. HOWEVER...I am supposed to teach a RS lesson in two weeks= terrifying. I HATE speaking in front of people unless they are in the 6th grade or lower. I love talking to people but not in front of groups. pretttyy sure I'm going to just pop in a movie for them. Prince of Egypt is totally relatable right?

-Friends: lemme just say...I got me some of the bestest, coolest friends up here. my roomies are to die for! Jacqui moved in with us & we've just been havin all kinds of fun together! every night is wonderful and I'm blessed to have them. all my other Logan peoples are wonderful too. I'm excited to graduate but when I think about having to leave the life I have here & the people I now know & love...that's when some sadness sets in. Sooo I don't think about that often. 

-Familia: my family is great. we've been way stressed & struggling with some stuff this past weekend but luckily we survived. i love my parents & siblings more than anything & I am truly blessed to have them in my life. 

Well now time to really get into the highlight of my week...well probably of the month. Sooo history: in high school all my friends snowboarded & I always wanted to learn & go but it's sooo expensive so it just went on to become an item on my 'To Do' list of life. WELP GUESS WHAT! I finally got to go! Our stake has a ski night every year  & this year Jacqui & I decided to take a lesson because we both wanted to learn so here's a rough draft of the enjoyable evening. First we decided to rent the board & boots & stuff from the ORP which ended takin like 45 minutes....way to long but it's alright. We were trying to find a pair of goggles at the same time too from anyone (which we really didn't need). We headed home & quickly met up with Emilee & Kyle so we could head up to Beaver Mountain. So we start up & sure the roads got way snowy & it took like an hour or so to get there but did we mind? Sure didn't! We happened to have some lovely conversation. We asked questions, bonded & really got to know each other haha. I loved it! It's fun to just talk to people sometimes. So we plowed through & finally made it. First thing we decided to do was eat! YUMMM so much soup! It was divine. 

Well as we headed to get our lift tickets we learned that the ward had only hired ski instructors so who graciously decided to teach us? Kyle & Emilee. These two people are fantastic! Honestly at first it was really rough going but they were both ridiculously kind, patient & such great teachers. They helped us along the whole time. Sidenote: Kyle was especially wonderful because I had the hardest time tying up my boots & getting them in the bindings & he so graciously tied my boots up for me without much complaint. HAHA Now I wish I'd taken pictures of that! So turns out snowboarding is way hard at first but then is not that hard at all. So there we are being taught & Jacqui & I were both pretty nervous at first. The first two times we went down we fell...A TON! My butt was sooo sore! Did I manage to get off the lift ever without falling? Not quite...that's my need to work on item. So anywho there we are snowboarding & I didn't even get that cold...in fact it was almost hot. Now thankfully I know how to wakeboard so that made things easier. By the third time we went down I was choosing when to stop & take a break (since my legs were burning like they were on fire)! Then Jacqui & I went down the last time ALL on our OWN! WOO HOO We were like pros...almost! But we didn't fall & I loved every minute of it...even the painful ones. 

 Worst fall you ask? Well that would be when I was almost down the hill...leaned forward to much and fell frontward. My chest was the first hing to hit & it slammed ( i mean slammed) into the ground. I thought I was going to die. I have never felt anything like that (I hated snowboarding at that moment) & I started to tear up. It knocked the wind out of me & I honestly could not breathe/catch my breath. Anand ( a wonderful friend) sat by me the whole time I was on the ground trying to breathe. I felt nauseous, headachey & thought I was done for the day. He was great and I am so thankful he was just sitting there helping me relax. Anywho...after I realized my ribs weren't broken...I decided to keep going & I'm glad I did. Not only can I cross snowboarding off my list but I am certain I will go again someday. It was seriously so fun! I loved it! Even if I am crazy sore now! So anywho we finished snowboarding, loaded up in the car & headed out onto a way snowy road again. That meant....more car talk time! We talked the whole way down again & really just had genuinely great conversations that ranged from what goals we have in life...to who you last made out with HAHA Anywho what a wonderful Wednesday & I am stoked that I have finally tried something new! the end. 

(pictures to come if I can get them from kyle)

spiritual giants.

Well this past Thursday I had the chance to take a little road trip to Salt Lake with my mom & sister. These trips are always fun and this one had a purpose of trying to find me a car. (no luck ugh)

Anywho we test drove some cars around town, had lunch at the delicious Dennys (one of our favorite places mmm) and then headed to my Uncle Joel's house to see his family & Grandma Rita who lives there. Now my Uncle Joel has always been the uncle who is kind of quieter. He is always so kind and growing up we'd run in and give him a hug and a quick update then move on to playing with our cousins. I have always known he's a great man, he's been in Stake Presidencies etc. plus his family is very strong in the church. Two of his sons are on missions right now. Buttt let me get back to the topic.

So there we are visiting with the family. Saw Grandma and then me, Jen, Grandma & my mom & Nephi (his son) all sat in the living room with him. I got the conversation started with a "What do you think about Mitt Romney" question. This led into a good few hours of him discussing & explaining various gospel concepts with us including experiences in our family & of my grandparents. Now the past few weeks I've been nervous & stressed for school & worried about my life in general right. Now I wasn't doing a whole lot for that and I was talking to him just cause he's amazing. My sister had a few questions for him she told us before we arrived. However...after leaving his house that night, my mind was blown. I felt a thousand times better, I felt like I had gotten answers to things I wasn't even aware I was looking for. He is truly a spiritual giant. There is no question in my mind that this man is a man of God and truly has a deep understanding of the gospel. I felt like I was at an amazing, personal fireside because it was so intimate. He explained various parts of the plan of salvation, the millenium, callings in the church, the gospel as a wheat auger (which is a brilliant concept) and then reminded us what amazing grandparents we have.

Now I've always known my Grandma Rita is a solid, spiritual giant. I didn't know my Grandpa Nick very well because he died when I was little but I've always known he loved this gospel too. However, listening to the way my Uncle Joel spoke to us about the two of them, gave me a newfound respect & love for those two people. I know without a doubt my grandparents received various revelation in their life and truly lived this gospel the way it's meant to be lived. Anytime I hear anything in the gospel I can find a way they showed that in their lives. They truly have & will endure to the end and I want nothing more than to be like them someday. Anywho the point of this is that often I don't think I recognize & show enough gratitude for the spiritual giants I have been blessed with in my family. I truly would not be where I am today without my family & I hope everyone can see those people. Sure we have the prophets & apostles, bishops & church leaders but it really blows my mind how incredible my Uncle, Grandma & others I know are. I strive to someday be even a hundredth of the person that these people are. Thank goodness for this gospel. Another post will come later with some of the stuff he said that truly hit me and the concept of the wheat auger as well as I can remember.